Popcorn: Yes,You Can Still Eat It

With all the fear (duly warranted) surrounding GMO foods, there is growing hesitation out there about eating that favorite of comfort foods: popcorn.  Well that’s just…anti-American.  But corn is the most common GMO food known to man-and it’s in everything.  So while many of us will eschew our old childhood friend, even at the movies-in order to avoid eating Frankenfood, others like me, will create their own brand of “Smartpop.” 

If you’re old enough to remember the days of stove-top Jiffy Pop where your Dad (or Mom) would swirl that coiled foil package with the wire handle endlessly over the burner flame while you waited at their elbow to watch the foil puff up, slowly at first, listening for that first kernel to pop…and then another…and then a few more, and then all at once, in rapid succession, even more-giving way to a flurry of popping, then you’re about to relive your childhood over the stovetop.

Making stove-top popcorn is really easy, but first I want to assure you that this recipe uses only certified organic popping corn which by definition, means it is NON-GMO.  Pair it with a healthy fat like coconut oil (with a high flash point that is not prone to oxidation) and all you have to worry about is the ensuing carb orgy.

Here’s how to make perfect popcorn - crisp, tasty and light, every time. 


                                                Stove Top Popcorn

Certified organic-NON-GMO popcorn

The Key Muscles of Hatha Yoga, Volume I

A terrific tool that teaches anatomy and body awareness

With all the anatomy I’ve studied and the continuing education I participate in, you would think I’d have had about enough of anatomy and kinesiology or that I would already “know it all.” Wrong on both counts!  I am a firm believer in continuing education no matter what your field (I wrote a blog post about this) and there really is so much to learn in my field that I will never stop studying.  I spend at least one hour every day learning about new exercises, methodology, nutrition and psychology (as it pertains to behavior, motivation and compliance.)  Even though I think of myself as an “expert,” the more I know, as they say, the more I know I don’t know.

Renegade Rows

Renegade Rows

What constitutes a total body core exercise?  Sounds like something you should be doing, doesn’t it?  And you should.  Thousands of “bad backs” later, the days of 500 crunches per workout are over! The way to get a truly integrated, functional, workout that properly challenges the core musculature is to, whenever possible, involve several large muscle groups in combination with that core movement.

Large muscle group, multi-joint movements tax the central nervous system, create a large energy expenditure and raise your heart rate resulting in more calories burned than when muscles work separately. Thus, giving you the maximum bang for your buck.

Renegade rows are a perfect example of such an exercise. Here’s how you do it:

Jini’s Hot Chocolate

Nothing better than hot chocolate on a chilly fall night

1 Heaping tablespoon of Valrhona imported cocoa powder (available at most Whole Foods-do not substitute brand)

 ½ cup unsweetened almond milk

½ cup purified water

Pinch of powdered, unflavored Stevia (do not use liquid or flavored Stevia)*

Cinnamon or star anise to taste

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Place cocoa powder in a large mug.  In a small saucepan, heat almond milk and water until it is hot but not boiling.  Pour over cocoa powder until mug is half full.  Mix until cocoa powder is fully dissolved in the hot milk.  Add pinch of Stevia* and remaining hot milk/water, stir until blended.

*Note: Amount of Stevia may take some experimentation.  Add more or less to taste.

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Fitness expert and integrative performance coach Jini Cicero, CSCS, teaches intermediate exercisers how to blast through plateaus to create incredible transformations. Are you ready to take your fitness to a whole new level?  Find out now!  Take Jini's "Are you Ready?" Quiz at www.Jinifit.com. © 2011 Jinifit, Inc.

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